Joy in the Messiah

 חַיֵּי שָׂרָה
Chayei Sarah / Life of Sarah
Genesis 23:1-25:18
1 Kings 1:1-31
1 Corinthians 15:50-57
    Looking for a sign…
    Chayei Sarah, which is the life of Sarah, begins with her death.  Abraham approaches the Hittites to buy a cave for a burial site, Genesis 23:1-17.   The sign of ownership and deed is found in Genesis 23:17-18.  ‘ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.’
      In Genesis 24:1-4 Abraham instructs his servant to find a bride for his son, Isaac. Abraham request that the servant puts his had under the thigh. This practice of putting one’s hand under the thigh was also done in Genesis 47:29 ‘When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt…’
    In both of these instances, thigh is rendered as ‘loin’, the covenantal part of the binding agreement between Elohim and Abraham, and thus the oath was really by the holy covenant between Abraham and God, of which circumcision was the symbol. It was a sign of the covenant made by two individuals for a purpose. 
    In Genesis 24:12-14, the servant asks for a sign, ‘…Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one that You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”  
    Genesis 24:15-21 shows us the sign that the servant was asking for, a sign for his success for ‘kindness for his master Abraham, specifically stated in Genesis 24:12. It was not for his own pleasure or sense of fulfilment, but rather for Abraham’s.
    This parsha ends with the death of Abraham, his burial and the lineage of Ishamel.
    Scriptures are full of signs.  A sign for healing: 2 Kings 20:8-11 ‘Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?” Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” So Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’
     A sign for good: Psalm 86:17 Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.’
     A sign for favor: Judges 6:17 ‘So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me.’
     A sign for authority: John 2:18 ‘The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”
    A sign for belief: John 6:30 ‘So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?’
   A sign of strength: Exodus 7:3 ‘But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt…’
   A sign of greatness: Deuteronomy 6:22 ‘And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.’
    A sign for wonders: Joel 2:30 ‘And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.’
   A sign for seasons: Genesis 1:14 ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark the seasons and days and years’.  And Psalm 104:19.
   In Matthew 12:38-41, and Matthew 16:1-4 Yeshua was asked for a sign in order to test Him. A group of cynical religious leaders asked Him for a miraculous sign that might verify His authority. Knowing that their requests were disingenuous and not sincere, He answered with a quote from Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 32:5.
     The last generation before the destruction of Jerusalem was a “wicked” generation.  Sources point to the vile hatred of the day, which erupted in slander, murder, and warfare between Jews. Josephus in his writings confirm Yeshua’s sentiments. Rampant political and religious corruption had brought about the decay of the people, which adopted Roman values and dealt in bloodshed, intrigue, and greed. Yeshua’s denouncement of the generation alludes directly to the Song of Moses, which describes the generation doomed to exile as “a perverse and crooked generation”. Yeshua knew the signs were there, to repent and enter the Kingdom or to go into exile as the Song of Moses warned.
    His explanation was a forewarning sign of who He was. The ‘sign of Jonah’ to which Yeshua referred was His three day and three nights in the grave. Just as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, Yeshua must spend three days and three nights in the belly of the earth - a tomb.
   The Apostles performed signs and wonders for the glory of God: Acts 5:12, Acts 6:8, Acts 8:6, Acts 14:3, Acts 15:12, Hebrews 2:4.  And there will also be signs to deceive: Matthew 24:23-28 ‘Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.’
    James 1:6 tells us that when we seek signs due to doubt, we live a life of faithlessness. ‘But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.’ 
    Yeshua in Matthew 14:31 explains to us the sign of His faithfulness: ‘Immediately Yeshua stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
    In Acts 2, the teaching of the sign of speaking in tongues was birthed, and grew into an ideology of ‘spirituality’ within the Church. However, this teaching is misleading and not a true sign.  Acts 2:1-4 is the basis for this teaching of speaking in ‘tongues’.  Acts 2:5-12 explains exactly what the ‘tongues’ were. They were that of native languages, not of babbling sounds or uncontrollable ‘holy laughter’ or any other form of charismatic ideology. In Acts 2:13 the men were even accused of being drunk. 
   In Acts 2:14-23 Kefa/Peter takes the opportunity to quote the prophet Joel and give testimony to the signs and wonders performed by Yeshua, giving the glory to God.  Not the teaching or sign of speaking in ‘tongues’. 
    1Corinthians 14, is also quoted as the example of the sign to speak in “tongues’.  However, in Strongs and in the Hebrew language, the word for tongues is interchangeable for languages. Zephaniah 3:9 pure language/tongue. Ezra 4:7 ‘the Syrian’ tongue/language. Acts 2:6 dialect/ tongue/ language. Just because someone teaches it is a sign, doesn’t mean it is. 
    Signs were given to us for protection and truth. 
    Deuteronomy 13 is an example of the wrong kind of signs and wonders and the consequences. 
    But what is the difference between signs and wonders? Signs are intentionally designed to communicate something; like a traffic sign, a boundary sign or a company sign. Wonders are extraordinary events, which we call Biblical miracles. Miracles are proof of God's existence. Signs and wonders have their own purpose. As signs, they bring a message.  As wonders, they make signs significant and extraordinary.   
        Yeshua is the sign and the wonder of God. He is the communication, He is the miracle, He is The Way, He represents Torah, Life and God, He is the completeness of both signs and wonders. 

חַיֵּי שָׂרָה
Chayei Sarah / Life of Sarah
Genesis 23:1-25:18
1 Kings 1:1-31
1 Corinthians 15:50-57

     This parsha opens with Sarah's death, yet strangely called Chayei Sarah - the ‘life’ of Sarah. ‘Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.’ Genesis 23:1. Or maybe it's not so strange. Because in this parsha people react to Sarah's death, a testament to how much power the dead have in those living. They seem to miss her deeply, as we witness in Genesis 24:67 ‘Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.’ Sarah obviously had a profound impact on the people around her.’
    Not only does this parsha mention the death of Sarah, but also Abraham in the last chapter of Chayei Sarah, Genesis 25:7 and Chayei Sarah closes with the death of Ishmael. 
     Between Sarah's death and Abraham's death, there are many signs of life. 
     In Genesis chapter 23, Abraham buys the burial site for his wife, Genesis 23:17-20 ‘So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.’
     This is important because it was the first parcel of land owned by the Hebrews in the Promised Land. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah are buried there. Interestingly, Ephron is intentionally misspelled without a ‘vav’ (“עֶפְרֹן because he promised much but did not do even a little” Rashi’s commentary).  
     In Genesis 24, Abraham sends his servant to retrieve a wife for Isaac.  A covenant between them is made in Genesis 24:2-3 ‘So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth…’ 
     Why under the thigh? The sages teach: “Since one who swears must take with his hand an article related to a mitzvah such as a Torah scroll or Tefillin, and circumcision was his first mitzvah, and he had fulfilled it with pain, it was dear to him; so he took it.”
     This practice of putting one’s hand under the thigh was also done in Genesis 47:29  ‘When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt…’
     In both instances, the thigh is rendered as ‘loin’, the covenantal part of the binding agreement between Elohim and Abraham. So this oath was the holy covenant between Abraham and God, which circumcision was the sign.
    In Genesis 24, Abraham's servant prays to Adonai for a sign. The miraculous answer to his prayer takes place in front of a well. Wells are signs of living water and are mentioned often in Scripture. 
    Isaac’s bride was found at a well, and so too, Rachel for Jabob, Genesis 29, and Zipporah for Moshe in Exodus 2. 

     In Genesis 25:17-18, Ishamel’s death is followed by a negative report regarding the lives they lived.  ‘Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.
     We see a hint of the life Sarah lived, for when she died, Isaac grieved, for he was comforted by his wife, Genesis 26:67.  
     Genesis 25:7-11 states that Abraham was a good man of God through the life he lived. ‘Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, ¹⁰ the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.’
    Life and death and the time we are given between.  Our flesh has an earthly beginning and an earthly ending.  Spiritually, life and death take on different concepts and dynamics. 
     In the book of John, Yeshua reminds us: John 4:24 ‘God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ John 6:63 ‘It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  
     God’s breath is the breath of life, Genesis 2:7.   We witness this again in John 20:21-22 ‘So Yeshua said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
     In Isaiah 40:7 we see a remarkable parallel to breath, life, and death. ‘The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.’
   Psalm 139:13-16 tells us that our life was known to God before we were born, and Job states: ‘The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’ Job 33:4.